In Memoriam
by Thrippa
Summary: A three-part piece, Mokie and Shadow create memorials for the victims of the ARK tragedy, and Maria. An uninvited guest adds his own tribute.
1. Marking a Tragedy

**A.N. -** A word of warning - if you're looking for a finished, detailed plot this one isn't. It's really a trio of related scenes as much as anything, one set shortly after _The Soul of a Weapon_ and the others sixish months after _Three There Are_. This is just something that's been floating around in my head for a while, so I wrote it down.

**In Memoriam**

I. Marking a Tragedy

The door hissed shut behind him with a faint metal whine, cutting off the sounds of the GUN and civilian repair crews. Shadow the Hedgehog closed his eyes and took a deep breath, listening to the near silence. A faint hiss of air blowing through a nearby vent was the only sound except for his own breathing, although he could feel faint tremors from the construction work through the soles of his shoes. Quickly he activated the hover jets in his shoes and separated himself from that reminder of the current . . . invasion. _That's what it is, really, an invasion. They don't belong here. _He sighed and started skating automatically down the hall before him.

He knew perfectly well that it was both dangerous and inefficient to leave the ARK floating silent and empty in space now that it had been rediscovered. Dangerous not only because the wrong hands might try to snatch it, as both Dr. Eggman and Black Doom had demonstrated, but also because the battle between GUN and the Black Arms had finished what Shadow himself had started, when he triggered the program to crash the space station into the Earth. That was what GUN had been working on for weeks, repairing the damage caused by the battles to prevent any more pieces from tearing loose and penetrating the atmosphere. But now the thrust of the work had changed, and they had brought up civilian teams to the now far safer environment. Now the aim was to return the actual colony portions of the ARK to livable conditions and install new colonists. Shadow had listened to the GUN's Commander's arguments for all this, and agreed that they made sense - but that didn't make him like it. It still felt like an invasion, all these strangers coming into the ARK and changing it from what he remembered; no matter that what (and who) he remembered was dead and gone. _Fifty __**years**__ dead and gone, though less than a single year to me. Stasis certainly wreaks havoc with one's sense of time. _He braked to a sudden halt, his attention snagged by a date branded indelibly into his memory.

It was on a large bronze plaque on the wall - a new addition since the last time he'd been here. He scanned the text below the date: 'On this date, an inexcusable tragedy occurred, instigated by a small clique of GUN generals. Believing that the Commander of the time was willfully turning a blind eye to hazardous research being conducted on the ARK, they alerted several units of soldiers to evacuate the ARK's colonists to save them from a (non-existent) disaster, while at the same time sending a select squad to this research facility with orders to assassinate all the doctors and patients within it, saving only Professor Gerald Robotnik, who was to be returned to Earth to stand trial for his alleged 'crimes'. This attack set in motion events that would only be fully revealed fifty years later, when Professor Robotnik's posthumous revenge nearly brought the ARK crashing down onto the Earth, an event that was only averted by two dokan heros, Sonic the Hedgehog and Shadow the Hedgehog.'

Shadow raised his eyebrows. Albeit with the disclaimer of the 'small clique', GUN was actually taking _responsibility_ for the disaster?

"Surprised, Shadow?" The hedgehog blinked and looked up - and up, to meet a pair of mismatched eyes. Mokie, a horse in a book Maria had once read, had one blue eye and one brown, and she had long ago dubbed her best friend 'Mokie' as well, because of his one blue, one green gaze. That little boy had later been the only one on the ARK to glimpse Black Doom, present at Shadow's awakening, and in his misreading of that horrible scene had believed that Shadow was not only a knowing ally, but a willing one, to all the devastation later wrought by Gerald and Doom both. It was not until he faced Shadow down on the ARK itself that Mokie realized his own error, and understood that Shadow had known nothing of the aliens or their invasion plans until the event actually occurred.

The resulting truce between the two was still an uneasy one, and Shadow considered his reply carefully. "I was under the impression that GUN felt any acknowledgment of the attack would be detrimental to international security."

"That was my predecessor's emphatic conclusion," conceded the Commander. "His other argument was that it might 'give ideas' to his generals and encourage them to plot similar treason. It was that sort of thinking that led to his 'retirement' shortly after you were reawakened and Gerald's revenge was revealed; he still wanted to deny our involvement completely and write the whole thing off as a madman's nightmare."

The scarlet eyes narrowed slightly. "But it wasn't announced then, was it? I thought Rouge told me it was largely hushed up, or at least . . . ." Shadow fumbled for a word, not quite certain what he meant. At the time he'd been in one or another of Eggman's labs, locked in a stasis pod while being healed of his injuries, but his impression was that the disaster had still not become general knowledge.

The Commander tilted his head slightly. "Not hushed up, but– minimized, perhaps. At the time the President felt, and I agreed, that the public trust was shaken enough that acknowledging even an old rebellion might cause difficulties. We are the guardians of most of the human nations of the world, and our existence is dependent on their trust in our ability to protect them. The story was presented in a slightly modified form, a renegade squad attacked the space colony, starting with the researchers and causing the disaster, while the heroic 'true' GUN soldiers leapt into action to rescue the colonists. At the time - I wasn't even confirmed as Commander at that point, you realize, I was simply the highest-ranking member after the governments called for the prior Commander's retirement - it seemed the best option.

"Now, of course, GUN is being held in high esteem after the Black Arms' attack and I thought that this would be the ideal time to bring the truth out. 'After looking deeper into records of the ARK tragedy'," the quotation marks were obvious in his phrasing, "we can reveal the entire plot, put the blame where it truly belongs, pay appropriate tribute to the victims, and at least partly exonerate Professor Gerald."

"Who was a victim himself," said Shadow a bit pointedly. Gerald hadn't died on the ARK, but he'd gone mad and ultimately been executed as a direct result of the events that day.

"As were my real parents," answered the Commander quietly. Shadow grimaced and ducked his head in tacit apology. "Have you seen the exhibit yet?" the human continued, indicating the Medical Center entrance and changing the subject.

"Exhibit?" The red and black hedgehog looked up again, confused. "No. You've turned the Medical Center into an exhibit?" The word suggested cheerful guests and fun, which seemed appallingly out of place at the site of such tragedy. He glided along as the Commander started walking up the hallway.

"Not the kind you're thinking of, I think. Haven't you . . . . No, I suppose you wouldn't have had much chance to go to museums, would you. They're quite appropriate, I think. I made sure that I had final approval of everything, as a survivor of the tragedy. Here," he opened the door and they turned into the main hall of the Medical Center. As Shadow remembered it, it had been an aggressively pleasant place, as if denying that the doors opening off it often lead to the rooms of peopled who were severely ill or dying. The cheery paintings and fifty-year-old crayoned children's notes were still there, but now there were bulletin boards and occasional small tables spaced along the walls between them. A picture, or sometimes two, adorned each board, and typed sheets were pinned up as well.

"They aren't completed, yet," explained the Commander, stopping in front of a board with two photographs on it. "Eventually everything will be printed on the boards themselves, but we're still gathering information and contacting relatives." He glanced at Shadow, apparently waiting for a response to the 'exhibit' in front of them.

Dutifully, the hedgehog looked, and caught his breath involuntarily. He recognized both the researchers, posing stiffly in their lab coats. He hadn't known them well; their research had been unrelated to Gerald Robotnik's, but he knew who they were. And he know why Mokie had brought him to this one first, because they were his parents. The typed sheets underneath the photos gave brief biographies, noting important discoveries, areas of research on the ARK, a few tidbits of personal info. It noted that each had been killed in the MS lab, and that they had one surviving son, who had been evacuated with the other school children on the ARK. It mentioned that he had joined the military, but not that he was the Commander of GUN. Shadow paced a few feet down the corridor to the closest door. It had been the room of a young, old woman, affected by progeria, which aged people to death before they were twenty. She had for some reason been fascinated by Shadow, and Maria had promptly delegated the hedgehog to be the one to bring her weekly offering of flowers - which Maria made to all the patients in the center - to Lisa Bell. Her door, with the nameplate freshly polished, stood open, and a silk rope was stretched across the doorway. Above the nameplate was mounted a photo, and below had been hung another typed bio, including a summary of her disease and the treatments that had been studied on the ARK. Professor Gerald's Heal Units had maintained her, though not as well as Maria, and the final note was that since those units did not function on Earth the disease was still officially unmanageable as well as incurable.

Shadow nodded slightly as the Commander stepped over to join him, then followed the human further along the hallway, familiar names and faces jumping out from bulletin boards and doorways. "Are they all here?" he asked finally.

The Commander nodded. "All researchers, doctors, and patients are listed along this hallway except two. The last two are over here." He led the hedgehog to a door that had led to several suites for visiting family members or researchers. Now, on either side of that door hung portraits that were as familiar to Shadow as his own.

"Maria," he whispered, raising gloved fingers to touch the frame. He remembered the picture; it was her last school photo, twelve years old and wearing her favorite blue dress that turned her eyes as blue as the Earth. She was sitting straight and smiling, but there was a hint of lurking mischief in that smile and those eyes, a look that Shadow remembered all too well. It usually meant they were about to get into trouble. He glanced over at the other picture. Professor Gerald was squinting at the camera, looking like the classic absent-minded professor, and not at all like anyone likely to try to blow up a planet. _Or lie to several governments and a major military force_, Shadow reminded himself. The Professor's deceptions had begun when Maria was three, long before Shadow himself came into the picture. It was because of those deceptions - promising one side to create a method of endless youth and life, and another an ultimate warrior - that Shadow had been created. The list of Gerald's achievements filled two pages. "Father." His other hand rose to brush that frame. But . . . "This isn't where we lived," he said to Mokie.

"I know. But I didn't think you'd really want people traipsing up and down through those rooms - they're still yours, you know, if you want them - so I suggested that it would make more sense to set up a duplicate set here, with the rest of the memorial displays. The other rooms are roped off, as you saw, but since Professor Robotnik and Maria were so key to what happened here, 'their' rooms are going to be open to the public."

"How much public do you think there's going to be?" Shadow couldn't quite picture mobs of people taking shuttle flights up to the ARK to look at pictures of people long dead. Although he was glad to hear that he could keep his rooms, since it hadn't occurred to him that they could be taken away from him.

"I don't know how many will make a trip up here specifically, but there will be some. The people living here will come sometimes, and the school here will certainly bring its students through." Shadow's didn't quite make a face at that reminder of the repopulation plan. Mokie placed a hand on the black-furred shoulder, kneeling to bring their faces nearer to the same level. "It doesn't seem right, I know, but which is a better memorial to the ones we've lost? A dead, empty colony, hidden away and forgotten, or a restoration of the original plan; a thriving colony and renewed research into incurable diseases? The Heal Units can help a lot of people, but they cannot yet be produced on Earth."

"So make a smaller station and grow them on that," grumbled the hedgehog. He looked solemnly at the human and sighed. "I know, it needs to be done. It's the right thing to do."

"You just don't like it one bit," concluded the other, with a faint smile. "I'm not entirely thrilled about it myself," he admitted, "but I do believe it's the right answer."

"What about the Biolizard?" asked Shadow suddenly. "Or the Eclipse cannon? Are those going to be mentioned in these displays of yours?"

"They're listed under the Professor's achievements," pointed out Mokie. "It hasn't been quite decided what will be done about those. I have final approval on all this, and I've made a few suggestions, but most of the work is being done by other people. Leading a major military organization can be a bit time-consuming." The twinkle in his eye encouraged Shadow to join in.

"I'd imagine so," agreed the hedgehog dryly, but he dredged up a bit of a smile. The Heal Units _were_ a vital - no pun intended - factor. They had the power to cure any illness except old age and genetic flaws, returning the body to normal function as dictated by its genes - and there had been researchers working on methods to modify crucial genes and use the Heal Units to extend the changes. It had actually worked on a couple of mice, although most of the tests had not been successful. If new researchers could pick up those studies and locate the key . . . those studies were far too important to too many people to discard for personal grief. "You're right. But I'm just as glad people won't be wandering through Maria's real quarters." He put on a worried look. "Does that mean I'll have to clean my own room from now on?"

Mokie laughed. "I think we can figure out a way to let the housekeeping robots in while keeping uninvited personnel out." Something on his belt caroled a string of notes, and he pulled the device free and gave it a glance which turned into a glare. "If you have any suggestions or requests let me know. I did give you my personal contact number? And think about the GUN contract as well. You'd have control over which assignments you took, and you'd get paid for saving the world, which is a better salary than freelance heroes get." He walked off without waiting for an answer.

Which was just as well, because Shadow didn't have one yet. He had concluded after much thought that while he may have been created as a result of government and military funding and research, he didn't actually _owe_ them anything since he'd never agreed to participate, as it were. On the other hand, as Mokie had commented, saving the Earth didn't come with a salary - or even a reward - attached, and he did have to eat. And have a place to live; it wasn't really feasible to teleport back and forth between Earth and ARK on a daily basis. The stipend and apartment the government was providing now might not last into the next administration, and he preferred to earn his own way, anyway. He left the Medical wing and skated the few short corridors to Professor Gerald's -_ no, I guess it's __**my**__ wing, now._ Rouge had gotten there first, and was staring out the observation window by the locked door that guarded his rooms.

The pale bat turned as he glided into the room. "Did you get lost? I thought you were going to meet me here, to give me a tour of the changes to the colony."

"I ran into the GUN Commander, and he wanted to show me the memorial hallway." Shadow eyed the bat suspiciously. "But you knew that, didn't you? You were the one who suggested we split up and I go that way to see who'd get here first." He stepped past her to the door leading to his rooms. The door slid open as he approached and he waved the bat in.

"Guilty," said Rouge coyly, sliding past him with a smirk. She didn't need to slide past him, there was plenty of room for her to walk through the door without touching him, but she couldn't resist flirting with him on general principles.

Shadow was finally beginning to understand 'flirting' and comprehend some of the moves and phrases that had perplexed him at first. He hadn't quite decided what to do about it though; sexual behavior in all its forms was not something he'd had much education in, and while he liked Rouge, he wasn't sure he liked her _that_ much. Or if he needed to - some people seemed to pair off with whoever was convenient at the moment. But that didn't feel right to him, so he'd decided that a bit more deliberation was in order. Certainly Maria had blissfully gone on about love and romance and happily ever after, but real life was a lot more complicated than the storybooks. So he ignored the bat's behavior, following her into the main living room of the wing and telling her to pick any seat she wanted. He then perched himself on a short ladder the Professor had used to reach high shelves, too narrow for her to join him.

Rouge pouted at him a moment, then laughed, arranging herself languorously on the couch. "I do believe you're stating to get wise to me," she complained as she held the pose for a moment before sitting up straight. "The Commander asked me to detour you through that area," she admitted, more briskly. "I think he expected me to bring you, but I figured you might prefer to see it without a lot of company." She studied Shadow's face. "What did you think?"

"I think you were right. Oh, you mean what did I think of the exhibits?" Shadow pondered a moment. "I . . . for Lisa, and Mokie's parents, they . . . seemed okay, I think, but . . . for Maria . . . ." He floundered a moment, then looked at Rouge wryly. "Articulate, aren't I?"

"Except on one topic." She drew her knees to her chest, resting her chin on them, and her heels on the edge of the seat cushion. She summarized for him, "Basically, you think they're okay except for Maria's. What about Professor Gerald's?"

"That one seemed okay, too," he answered slowly._ Why? Why was his right and Maria's wrong? _he asked himself silently. Aloud, Rouge was asking him the same questions. He racked his brain, picturing the displays and comparing his reaction to the one with his reaction to the other. Suddenly it clicked. He sat up straight. "The achievements! Father had a long list of things he had done and accomplished, but all Maria's said was that she had NIDS, as if her entire life's accomplishment was to be born with a deadly disease. Which is wrong; she was a lot more than her disease." He thought a bit further, remembering the other exhibits. "Even with Lisa, it talked about her progeria, but it mentioned that she'd been to the Special Olympics and spoken to a group of Congressmen about the need for funding for research on aging disorders. But Maria was simply a disease, and confined to the ARK because of it." _When her dream had always been to go to Earth. _He glanced involuntarily towards the outer observation room, and her favorite window.

"So make her something on Earth," said Rouge. Shadow looked at her, startled. He hadn't realized he'd spoken the last part aloud. "The problem with this sort of memorial is it's not very personal; it can't be, since the people affected are fifty years dead and in some cases their families are dead as well. But you knew Maria, and you can make her a real memorial, one that is appropriate for the girl you knew, not the NIDS victim of the tragedy on the ARK."

Shadow nodded slowly. "Yes. I'll do that. As soon as I figure out how." He grinned at the bat. "Are you ready for that tour, now?"


	2. Remembering a Life

II. Remembering a Life

Several months later, Shadow popped into existence above a short stretch of grass dusted with snow. He shivered automatically, although the cold was nowhere near enough to actually bother him and gazed across the airy gap at the mountain in front of him. _It_ was far more than dusted; the usual snowcap had expanded to cover nearly the entire mountain. Turning around, he recognized the red form moving alertly down the steps of the shrine there. Knuckles the Echidna insisted that all visitors to Angel Island arrive at the shrine, so he could verify their identity. Sonic might make a point of always arriving somewhere else, just because he'd been asked not to, but Shadow considered such games childish. Besides, it seemed a reasonable request, considering the importance of Knuckles' duties. He waded through the tall, dried grass to the outermost stone ring and waited there for the Guardian to join him.

"Hello, Shadow," said Knuckles, affably enough. "What brings you up here?" In deference to the chilly weather, the echidna had added a muffler and toboggan cap to his usual gloves-and-footwear, and the gloves and socks were clearly a heavier fabric than his usual gear.

"I was wondering if I could borrow Tikal for a bit. I have a project that I need some advice on," said Shadow.

"Ah," answered the echidna. "Well, she'll probably be delighted to go with you; she doesn't like the cold much. Let me see if I can get the Master Emerald to find her."

"'Go with' me?" That wasn't what Shadow had expected; he'd only meant to discuss his ideas with the peach echidna. Surely Knuckles didn't mean . . . . "I thought she couldn't live without the Master Emerald - you're not actually going to let us take it?"

"What?" Knuckles seemed shocked at the very idea, which reassured Shadow slightly, although leaving him still confused. Clearly the Guardian did not intend for Shadow and Tikal to stroll off with his charge. _But then how . . . perhaps he's got a Chaos Emerald_? Understanding dawned on the Guardian's face. "Oh! Oh, no, you left before Marahuté's gift to her, I guess. She's got a Time Stone now, that makes her, well, alive. Not the spirit-light type of life she's had since she was freed from the Master Emerald, but a real life, with a real body. She went down to meet Rex and Becca a few months ago, but she's been wanting to go down again. She just doesn't like going down below by herself, and of course I can't really leave."

Shadow refrained from pointing out that Knuckles had left the island on a number of occasions, either shrinking the Master Emerald and taking it with him, or leaving Chaos and Tikal to watch over it. Taking Tikal down to see what he had for the memorial was probably better than just describing it, so this would work better for him. "I'd be pleased to escort her, if she wants to come."

He followed Knuckles up the steps of the shrine, grinning at the sight of the fire burning on the upper steps, and the thick cushion next to it. "Keeping warm, I see."

Knuckles grinned back a bit sheepishly. "Well, I like my toes and tailtip. The Master Emerald may moderate the weather a bit, but still gets cold enough up here to get frostbite, you know." He stepped over to the huge gemstone as Shadow waited on the top step. The Ultimate Life-form enjoyed the fire's heat, even if he didn't really need it; he was capable of surviving even the chill and vacuum of space itself for a short time, but that didn't mean it was very pleasant. He listened idly to the echidna's mutters as the Guardian communed with the stone. After a moment Knuckles turned around. "I think she's coming," he said. "But I don't know where she is, so I'm not sure how long it will take."

"Not too long, I think," answered Shadow, pointing to a shape that had just emerged from the Red Canyons. "Isn't that her?"

It was, and shortly the peach-furred echidna girl joined the two males at the base of the shrine. "Shadow!" she exclaimed, giving the black hedgehog an unexpected hug. "It's good to see you again!"

Somewhat embarrassed, the red-striped hedgehog returned the hug gingerly. "Uh, thanks. I was wondering if you'd like to come down to the ground with me. I need an opinion on something, and I thought you might be a good person to ask."

"Sure," agreed Tikal cheerfully. She hugged herself and shivered. "Anything to get away from this cold. What do you want to show me?"

"It's sort of a secret," temporized Shadow, glancing at Knuckles. "And it's winter down there too, so it'll still be cold."

"But the buildings down there have inside heat," pointed out Knuckles. "Be sure to bring her back in one piece, Shadow, I've gotten rather used to the company. I'll just sit up here and hope my nose doesn't freeze off." Shadow assured him that he'd return Tikal safely, and a few minutes later they were on their way - and there.

Tikal looked around with interest. "Where are we? It isn't Station Square, is it? The buildings are a lot bigger than the ones on Thera."

"That's Central City," answered Shadow. "It's where the President of this country lives, and Rouge and I live there too, when we're not out on missions."

"Missions? You mean you're missionaries?"

The black hedgehog nearly choked. The sort of missions he'd accepted from GUN - let alone the image of Rouge the Bat as a missionary! "No," he managed. He cleared his throat and got himself under control again. "We both work part time for an agency called GUN, Guardian Units of the Nations. Our missions are the tasks they assign us. 'Missionaries' carry out tasks assigned by their gods. And whatever else GUN may or may not be, they are definitely not a god.

"Anyway, what I wanted to show you is in here. And I'm afraid this building isn't actually heated, it's just for storage." He opened the door of the warehouse they were standing in front of. "This is where Tails stores some of his stuff; he let me put a few things here temporarily. I . . . I'm trying to make a memorial for Maria, but I'm not sure what to do next, and I hoped you could help. I have these statues, that I'm about to show you, and I want to plant flowers around them - especially blue ones, but I'm not sure . . . ." His voice trailed off as he squeezed past a couple of broken robots (clearly Doctor Eggman's but 'modified' by Sonic's spindash); apparently Tails had been here recently and dropped them off. He gave Tikal a hand past them, and led her around a damaged plane to a large, black statue. The smooth stone was carved into the shape of a gryphon, lying half curled around a smaller white statue, with one half-raised wing sheltering the pale form. Tikal had seen gryphons when the two of them had gone with Knuckles to restore the Chronos Rock for the griffs, the gryphon dokan that had been guards of ancient Babylon and who carefully bred the few remaining lines of true gryphons, but for some reason the white animal seemed to perplex her. The two statues were mounted on a oval granite base, with a plaque on one of the long sides. "Maria Robotnik," she read out loud. She read the rest of the inscription silently, than looked at the smaller statue again, from several angles. "I give up," she said finally, "what is the white one?"

He gave her an odd look. "It's a lamb," he answered. _What else could it possibly be?_

She frowned a moment more, then brightened. "Oh! A sheep cria, you mean?"

"Do I? What's a cria?" He didn't recall ever hearing the word, before or after he'd awakened.

"A young llama." She used the same tone as he had with the lamb, then raised an eyebrow at him. "Don't get in the habit of thinking that everyone knows the same things you do. No one in the Echidnan empire ever saw a sheep, but llamas and alpacas were everyday animals. I only know what the tiny sheep on Angel Island are because I asked Knuckles. He never mentioned lambs." Shadow dropped his gaze and nodded, accepting the rebuke. She looked thoughtfully back to the sculptures. "So why a lamb and a gryphon?"

"The 'lion and the lamb' was one of her favorite images, and she used to draw the lion lying down with the lamb a lot. I don't know why, exactly, but the gryphon statues when I saw them in the Babylon's caves just seemed right to replace the lion with."

"Maybe because it suggests space? It has wings, and this statue sort of suggests the darkness of the universe surrounding the ARK, especially with the little white flecks in the stone," suggested Tikal. She reached up to touch the detailed carving of the feathers on the head. "It certainly appears to be protecting the lamb. This is a Babylonian gryphon isn't it? I remember you asked Marahuté if you could get one. Maria was your friend on board the ARK, wasn't she?"

"She was my sister." Shadow realized that of all of Sonic's friends, he'd picked the one who probably knew the least about his the ARK, and his own history. He wondered if his subconscious had done that on purpose, or if it was just an accident. But then, too, Tikal was really the only one of his friends who had suffered a major loss, and in her case too it had been triggered by a family member. He could see that - as with most people - she was perplexed at how a human could be sister to a dokan. But 'sister' was exactly what the black hedgehog meant; 'foster sister' or 'stepsister' didn't have quite the same meaning. He elaborated, "Professor Gerald Robotnik created me in the hopes that my immune system would be a template he could use to cure his granddaughter, Maria. She was born with a disease that would kill her gradually, and he'd already invented a treatment to beat the disease back and maintain her health but there was no cure. The President at the time . . . ." Shadow paused, debating just how much to reveal. He didn't doubt the echidna was trustworthy, but some of the past's secrets were probably better off left there. "The President at the time wanted someone to research eternal youth and health. The Professor had turned the offer down, but when Maria was diagnosed he relented, hoping that such studies would also help her. I was the culmination of years of research." He stated it simply; it was a fact, not something to be proud or ashamed of. "Professor Gerald modified me from a 'normal' dokan hedgehog embryo, making changes he'd discovered during his initial experiments."

"The Big Lizard," interjected Tikal.

"Yes, the Biolizard was the prototype of Project: Shadow. Had she been successful, I might never have existed. But her growth mechanisms were messed up somehow, and Father decided also that it would be safer to have a more intelligent brain in charge of the Chaos powers. So he selected a dokan hedgehog as his next base. I don't know why," he added reflectively, "I asked him once and he said something about an old friend that was a hedgehog, but . . . ." He shrugged.

"Anyway, I was grown from embryo to adult in a specialized stasis tube, that also taught me a lifetime's worth of knowledge directly into my brain. When I was awakened . . . I opened my eyes, and looked around for the first time, and as the blurriness cleared away, there she was. Just stepping through the door, with her arms full of flowers she'd picked to welcome me with. She was . . . ." His voice trailed off as he stared back across the years.

"The most beautiful thing you'd ever seen," said Tikal softly.

Shadow jumped - he'd actually forgotten she was there - and turned red. "Well, considering that all I'd seen at that point was Professor Gerald and a blurry lab, there wasn't much competition. It sounds dreadfully clichéd I suppose." He trailed into a mumble and looked away, still embarrassed. He hadn't intended to get so lost in his memories.

Tikal was kind enough not to laugh, although he could tell she was amused. "Clichés become clichés for a reason," she pointed out, "and logically, something you've seen has to be the most beautiful. Although sometimes the most beautiful people don't look it."

"But she was!" Shadow insisted. "I mean, she was beautiful, as humans judge appearance, and I thought she was, too, but her personality was beautiful as well. She was the sort of person that makes you smile just because she walked into the room, and she was smart, and always ready to help, and cheerful–" He hesitated, then continued, "and she affected everyone that way." He fell silent again, remembering.

"How . . . long did you know her?" asked Tikal finally.

The black hedgehog looked at her, ruby eyes meeting blue. "Three years. At first, she knew all about the ARK and the people - I had all sorts of knowledge from the flash-training, but no experience with anything - and she liked to play big sister, introducing me to people and showing me how to do things, but later – " He smiled at the memories, his gaze going distant. "Later, I got to be the one in charge, because along with that cheery nature she had a mischievous streak nearly as wide as Sonic's, and she got us into all sorts of trouble. Of course, all _she_ had to do was smile at most people to get back out of it, but that didn't always get me off the hook and it didn't work with Father - Professor Gerald - at all. He'd decided by then that I had enough experience to be responsible for her, but, well, she could be very hard to say 'no' to."

"I can tell," said Tikal, smiling herself. "Why here, though?" She looked around the warehouse. "This seems a strange place for a memorial. Why not put it on the ARK, since she lived there?"

"Oh, it's not going to be here," he explained, "This is just a place to store the statues until I find the right spot. But I don't know where would be good. It needs to be on the planet because she was born on Earth, and she always wanted to come back. She'd spend so much time just looking at it, wishing she could be back here."

"I see," said Tikal thoughtfully. "Why did she want to return? I mean, what did she want to do when she was here?"

"Nothing that most people would find very exciting; she used to talk about just sitting under a tree, on grass, and watching the birds fly past. She wanted to travel some too, but most often she just daydreamed about sitting down here and, well, being alive, I guess."

"Oh?" Suddenly, Tikal grinned at him. "That's easy then. Bring your statues up to Angel Island. That way you can set the memorial up under one of the trees in the forest, where there are plenty of birds and animals around, and it'll not only travel the world with the island, it'll be perfectly safe as well. Knuckles won't mind, and you can plant your flowers around it and the chao can tend them when you can't visit."

Shadow blinked. _Why didn't I think of that? It would be perfect, except – _"Are you sure Knuckles won't mind? I know of one human, at least, who ought to be allowed to see it, and he's not usually welcoming to intruders."

"He won't object," answered Tikal firmly. She seemed very certain of that, but Shadow wasn't so sure. Picking up his doubts, she cocked her head at him with an unfamiliar glint in her eye. "I _am_ the only other echidna on the planet you know. If I approve this, he won't have any choice. Trust me."

It occurred to him suddenly that she was not only the only other echidna, she was THE only female echidna, and he'd spent enough time with Rouge to have an inkling of just how powerful that detail could be. "Okay," he said. "Shall we give him a chance to give me permission, or just turn up with the statues?"

Tikal giggled. "Oh, one must always let the male _think_ he's really in charge. Besides, we should find where we're putting them first. Although I think I know just the spot."

Shadow smirked, and teleported them back to the foot of the shrine. Knuckles stamped down to join them again, and Shadow made his proposal. Knuckles was fine with the concept of the memorial in the forest, until the hedgehog got to the part about other people possibly visiting.

"Whoa! No way, Shadow! I'm not having people tramping all over Angel Island and threatening the Master Emerald!" The echidna folded his arms across his chest, glaring belligerently at the black and red hedgehog.

"They won't be threatening the Master Emerald, and they won't be tramping all over the island," argued Shadow. "One of them, maybe the only one, will be the Commander of GUN and he _knows_ how important it is for the Master Emerald to stay safe."

Knuckles scowled. "If he's military then that's all the more reason for him to want to take it! I'd have thought you, of all people, Shadow, would know how the military reacts to a potential source of power!"

"I do," replied the hedgehog calmly. "I also know that Mokie knows the risks as well as I, after all, his parents were killed aboard the ARK, and he's seen firsthand what the prior GUN Commanders have done."

Knuckles blinked. "Mokie?" he asked blankly.

Shadow mentally kicked himself. "Mokie was the nickname Maria gave to her best friend, who has grown up to become the Commander of GUN. He knew Maria and Professor Gerald well, and he will probably want to see the memorial. If you require him to ask permission first, he will, and I assure you he knows how important it is for the Master Emerald to remain where it is."

Knuckles growled, unconvinced. Before he could say anything else though, Tikal spoke up. "You needn't waste your time complaining, Knuckles. I've already told Shadow he can put the memorial up here. The chao and I can look after it when he can't, and–"

"Hey, wait!" interrupted the other echidna, turning an outraged stare on her. "What gives you the right to–"

"Being my father's daughter," Tikal interrupted him in turn. Drawing herself up regally, she announced, "As the hereditary ruler of the Echidnan Empire, I am telling you that Shadow may do this."

Knuckles opened his mouth, and closed it. Then he opened it again, and after a moment closed it. Knitting his brows, he glowered at Tikal in silence, then he finally said, "We don't have an Empire anymore."

"Of course we do," replied Tikal firmly. "The Mystic Ruins and Angel Island are still officially our land, and I'm the daughter of the most recent ruler, and you're my army. What more do we need?"

Knuckles clearly still wanted to object, but he also knew when he was outmatched. As Shadow had learned, he wasn't so much stupid as slow-thinking; growing up alone on the island he'd developed the habit of deliberating on things for extended periods, but that meant he had problems keeping up with most of his friends - or enemies. The hedgehog guessed that the red echidna would return to the argument later on, though, once he'd had a chance to marshal his arguments. Knuckles was nothing if not persistent.

"You said you had a location in mind," Shadow interjected, looking at Tikal. "May I see it?"

"Yeah," said Knuckles, still scowling. "I want to see it, too."

"Sure," said the female, "it's over in the woods. This way."

The Red Canyons were a bit tricky for Shadow to travel through. Both Tikal and Knuckles were able to glide from ledge to ledge, and Knuckles didn't even need a ledge, since his trademark knuckle spikes were capable of digging into the rock itself. The hedgehog, on the other hand, had to use Chaos control to teleport from point to point. Shadow noted that Tikal seemed unusually tense during the glides, though. He watched her approach, as he Chaos controlled onto a ledge beside Knuckles.

"Don't watch her," said the red echidna.

"What?" The hedgehog looked at him in surprise. Surely Knuckles wasn't jealous about Tikal?

"Next ledge," the echidna muttered as she joined them. Again, he went first, then Shadow teleported over. "She doesn't like heights," he said quietly, when the hedgehog arrived, "and it's rude to stare."

"Oh. Sorry." Shadow could sympathize, after his plummet from the ARK he was not too fond of great heights himself, although the canyons weren't deep enough to bother him. He kept a more covert eye on Tikal the rest of the way. She managed well enough, but she couldn't quite conceal her relief as they reached the mushroom jungle on the other side. The males pretended not to notice, and she did glide through the jungle a lot more smoothly than she had moved in the canyons. For his part, Shadow skated along vines and leapt from branch to mushroom cap like Tarzan. He'd never really had a chance to explore Angel Island before; he'd only been to the shrine isle and the area on that side of the Red Canyons. He'd also been mobbed by chao the one time he'd visited, to Knuckles' vast amusement. No one had ever figured out why they were so fascinated with the hedgehog, unless it was because of his Chaos powers. He'd been relieved that Marahuté's chao and the ones on Thera didn't seem particularly interested in him. They were cute and all, but still. _Maria would have adored them, though_, he thought, smiling to himself as he pictured her laughter at the creatures clambering all over him. _I wish she could have seen that. And she'd like the idea of them tending her flowers._ They had left the mushrooms behind and were now walking through a drier, more typical forest. A swirl of tiny birds fluttered up, flitted around them twice, and flew on into the trees, and a miniature, stub-tailed bear stood up to look at them. A few yards farther on, Tikal turned into a clearing and Shadow instantly knew he was in the right place. A small meadow stood sere and brown under its scattering of snowflakes, but he could picture it green and in bloom. A small cluster of heavily-budded trees that his flash-memories identified as dogwoods stood at the forest's edge near a (currently frozen) stream, in a loose ring that would be the perfect setting for his statues. A herd of tiny deer gazed curiously at the dokan for a moment before returning to their browsing along the forests edge, and a half-dozen chao in multi-colored scarves were doing some sort of dance nearby. They broke off the dance and stood frozen a moment, then surged towards Shadow, babbling at the top of their shrill voices. "Hey!" he objected, but suddenly he had chao hugging his knees, clinging to his hands, and hovering around him. "Help?" he requested, turning to the echidnas, only to see Tikal giggling behind her hand and Knuckles laughing so hard he had to hang on to a tree to stay upright. Suddenly, something wrapped around the hedgehog's neck and he looked down in alarm. He was relieved to see it was only one of the chao's scarves.

Finally Tikal moved forward and started detaching chao, gently shooing the fluttering crowd away as well. The small creatures reluctantly disengaged, but they refused to take the scarf back when Shadow tried to return it. Knuckles got himself under control and took it, looking it over curiously. "Since when do chao wear scarves?" he asked Tikal.

"Oh, they've been fascinated by yours for years," she said casually. "So I asked Tails to bring some up with our last batch of supplies."

"Oh." He handed the scarf back to Shadow. "I suppose that's where you want to put this thing?" He pointed at the stand of dogwoods.

"Yes," said Tikal. She looked at him expectantly.

The crimson echidna scowled again, glaring up and down the open area. "This is Eggman's fault," he said suddenly to Shadow. "When I was growing up, all of this was forest, but when Eggman crashed his Death Egg on the Island, he burned down a lot of the trees. Do you think that's a big enough area for this human of yours to land in?"

Shadow blinked. "Oh, um, I suppose so. Does that mean you'll let him come here?"

"I don't seem to have much choice," Knuckles grumbled, glaring at Tikal. She stared back inscrutably. The male echidna hmmphed and looked back at the hedgehog. "Ask him to call up here first, rather than just turning up. Or anyone else you decide to haul up here," he commented sourly. "I _do_ have a treasure to guard, you know."

"I know, and I will." Shadow was surprised at the Guardian's giving in, but he wasn't going to argue. "I promise, no one will come up here without alerting you first."

Knuckles hmmphed again. "They'd better not."

It was late spring before Shadow actually told Mokie about the memorial. Even with the help of Tikal and the chao - and Knuckles, to his surprise - it had taken a while to get things set up properly. The island seemed to be helping out as well, presumably the Master Emerald's doing, though whether that was Tikal's or Knuckle's influence Shadow didn't know. Regardless, the dogwoods were still blooming, and the array of flowers he'd planted were mostly blooming as well, even though a number of them were doing so out of season. He rode up in the helicopter with the Commander (after notifying Knuckles), and showed him the frothy green-white trees, with a lone, contrasting pink dogwood, standing guard around the statues. The dark gryphon seemed even more dramatic against that backdrop, shielding its snow-white charge beneath the arched wing. A clear space at the front of the pedestal allowed the Commander to walk forward to read the inscription, but to either side and behind waved blue flowers carefully arranged by height and season. Additional flowers, in a rainbow of colors, had been planted beneath the trees, further delineating the space. A swimming chao - Shadow had learned the types during the planting process, and they had _finally_ ceased to flock around him every time he visited - was filling a watering can from the stream, and using it to water the outer ring of blooms. The Commander looked at the long-eared green and yellow creature in amazement.

"How did you teach it to do that?" he asked finally.

"I didn't," answered Shadow. "Chao like gardening, and they volunteered. And I thought Maria would be pleased; she always liked stories with chao in them."

"True," agreed the human. He seemed a bit skeptical about the chao's 'volunteering', but Shadow wasn't surprised. Although there were a scattering of chao gardens and pet chao down below, most people thought of the creatures as animals, like cats and dogs, rather than as creatures capable of thought and reason. Shadow couldn't fault them; he'd been in the same group, encounters with Cream's chao Cheese notwithstanding, until he'd actually gotten up here and worked with them. He didn't think they had dokan-level (or human-level) intelligence, but they were certainly smarter than monkeys. He didn't bother to argue the point, though; this wasn't a place for arguing, but for remembering.

"This is truly wonderful, Shadow," said the Commander, looking around again. He removed a roll of white tissue paper from inside his jacket and unwrapped it. Inside lay two roses, one yellow, one crimson. He offered the flowers to the hedgehog, who looked at them blankly. "I realize that the red rose is supposed to be 'romantic' love," he explained, "but there's not one for 'family', and 'friendship' doesn't seem to do justice to your relationship with Maria." He drew the yellow rose out of the paper as he spoke and laid the long stem across one of the gryphon's avian feet, tucking the end under the other foot to keep it in place. Then he offered the red rose to Shadow again.

This time Shadow took it, sliding the smooth stem through his fingers. "Maria was always disappointed that she couldn't grow roses on the ARK," he remembered. He extended an arm suddenly. "It's the same color as my stripes," he noted. The petals were nearly an exact match.

Mokie nodded. "I was trying to match them," he said. Shadow stepped forward, looking at the yellow flower lying across the statue's front foot. Then he looked up, at the black head gazing watchfully at the lamb. The sculptor had actually carved the beak so that the upper and lower jaws were separate. On a whim, he raised the red rose and threaded the stem into the creature's mouth, near the jaw hinge. _Hmm, not quite. _He slid the flower down about halfway, and nodded. Now the gryphon appeared to be offering the flower to the lamb. A flash of memory arose: the carefully drawn image of a lion, in yellow and brown pencil, sitting in front of a lamb, holding a crimson rose for the grey and white creature to sniff. And Maria's voice, complaining about having gotten in trouble for drawing the scene during English class, even though she already _knew_ how to spell 'aristocrat' and 'bureaucrat'. _Dear Maria, I miss you still. I hope you're happy where ever you are. And I won't forget, not ever, even when the stars __**do**__ turn cold._


	3. An Uninvited Relative

III. An Uninvited Relative

Angel Island was hovering, as often happened, just off the coast of Mystic Ruins. It had a habit of returning to the spot from whence it had been torn, but hanging too long over the jungles had detrimental effects on the ground it shaded, so Knuckles had instructed the Master Emerald to keep it over the water most of the time. The Guardian echidna himself was dozing in the sun on the top step of the shrine, enjoying the late spring weather.

On the other side of the central volcano, in the area known as Lava Reef, a small blue light flicked on in an abandoned base. Electricity traveled down long-unused wires, and a machine that had once stamped out armor plates for robots began once again to thump noisily up and down. There was no raw steel to feed it any longer, but the press whumped on anyway, stamping out non-existent parts for long-demolished mechs.

Within half an hour, a panicked black and purple chao had flitted to the shrine, alerting the Guardian and demanding that Knuckles come and find what was causing the noise. Chaos surged out of the ground, responding to the chao's alarm, and took a position at the foot of the steps, allowing the red echidna to investigate without leaving the Master Emerald unguarded. Undetected by anyone, a tiny robotic insect broadcast all of this to a viewscreen on the far side of the island.

A small, silver hovercraft landed in the forest, near the area that had burned when the Death Egg had crashed on the island. A human climbed out, secure in the knowledge that no one who might object to his presence would find out about it until after he left. As the rotund figure walked quickly through the now grassy area, he pulled an old piece of fabric through his fingers meditatively. Several chao looked up from supervising infants and toddlers at the new arrival, and a peach echidna slipped unseen into the trees at the edge of the field to shadow him.

_I don't remember my grandfather; I was only a few months old when he came to see me, and he died shortly after that. I never met my cousin at all. So why have I come? _He looked down at the cloth, running it through his fingers again. It was old, old flannel, off-white from repeated washing, the original color indeterminate. A baby blanket, the last remaining part of the set that the twelve-year-old Maria had stitched for her infant cousin. The embroidery floss had retained its colors better than the fabric; the chao and eggs in their wreath of flowers were clearly visible, if more pastel than when originally stitched. _Grandfather brought this from her, and I grew up hearing stories of his great inventions, and studying the plans that he'd left behind. _What he hadn't heard - at least not from his parents - was what had happened to his grandfather afterwards. 'It broke his heart when Maria died,' was the closest anyone had ever said, and so young Eggy had reasoned that broken hearts must be fatal. _Funny how that dratted hedgehog seized on the same nickname my grandfather had given me. _By the time he had encountered Sonic, Ivo Robotnik had learned both the truth of his grandfather's imprisonment (although not that he'd been executed) and that broken hearts were not a fatal disease. He had also learned that he was vastly more intelligent than anyone else on the planet, and decided that the best way to prevent further tragedies was to take over the world. Between the rule of various governments and the regional generals of GUN, there was too much chance for deceit and miscommunication. Obviously, what was needed was a single hand on the reins, and whose better than his? Unfortunately, Sonic and certain others on the planet preferred chaos to order and insisted that 'freedom' with all its attendant inequalities and suffering was better than the benign rule of the Doctor over his planned Eggmanland. Even Shadow, who had more reason than most to hate GUN, and should have been expected to support Eggman's plans, had opposed them. Although the first time hadn't really been his fault. The massive moustache twitched as Dr. Eggman grimaced. _That was a decided miscalculation on my part. But even though I had suspicions as to the validity of my grandfather's imprisonment, how could I have realized that he'd gone mad? That was carefully kept out of all the military records. And of course, no one but Grandfather himself knew that he'd fiddled with the Eclipse Cannon and Shadow's memory after doing so. Actually, I'm not certain that Grandfather knew he was doing so, himself._ And while Eggman was trying to sort out what had happened and what his next move should be (not to mention figuring out the possible repercussions of Shadow's unexpected survival), Metal Sonic had simply locked him into a storeroom, and tried to take over the planet itself, having somehow decided that it was the real Sonic the Hedgehog. _Strange how its reversed thinking extended even to its servitors. Instead of building robots to assist it, Metal Sonic vastly expanded my ranks of Shadow-cloned androids. Which makes it all the stranger that Shadow brought that robot back to me, instead of leaving it with Omega. Some bit of loyalty to Professor Gerald, perhaps, like his alerting me to this memorial? Or repayment for my saving him, even though I'd sent my robots to recover a dead body, not a living one? It's not like Shadow hesitated to dispute my right to the Gizoid, or refuses to pester me when GUN sends him on a mission. And I'm still not sure why he didn't finish me during the Black Arms invasion. _ He raised one hand involuntarily to his head - Shadow had left him with a headache that persisted for _weeks_ - and realized he'd come to a halt. Spotting the stand of dogwoods in the distance he headed for the cluster of pink and white blooms. _Hmph. I wish I could have seen his face when Rouge pointed out to him that he was sort of my uncle. _That's what the note had said, the one that had directed him to this spot. His boundary alarms had gone off, and Metal Sonic had brought him a note that had appeared, as if by magic, stuck to the door. _Chaos Control, no doubt. I must be getting soft - or desperate - to accept an artificial Life-form, even the Ultimate one, as an uncle. No wonder that Nega character pulled the wool over my eyes, claiming to be a relative from the future. Well,__** I**__ got __**him**__ last time, and I'll be the one double-crossing in the future if he dares to stick his moustache into this world again! Oh, my._

He ducked under the trees into a garden that was full of flowers. The focal point was a black gryphon statue, flecked with white, that was curled protectively around a white marble lamb. A crimson rose was grasped in the black beak, as if being offered to its charge; a yellow bloom lay across the carved avian claws. Dr. Eggman paused, unconsciously running the blanket through his fingers again. The imposter was forgotten, displaced by true family. He may never have met Maria, but she'd had something he striven all his life to achieve; in vain thus far, but he'd get it yet. _Such power she had, my cousin, and I doubt she ever knew it. Our Grandfather devoted his life to creating the Ultimate Life-form in hopes of finding a cure for her. For her sake, he demanded the ARK be built and the research hospital housed therein. For her, he created the Biolizard and Shadow the Hedgehog. For her, as well, he invented the Heal Units, and because of her murder he tried to take revenge on the entire planet. For __**his**__ promise to her, only, did Shadow prevent that revenge, not for his own life or any of ours. In misplaced retribution, and again for Maria's sake, the GUN Commander tried to have Shadow killed. And because she was friends with both, the Commander and Shadow made a truce in spite of that._

_All this, for a girl whose primary features were a cheery personality and a lethal disease. So why can't I, who has so much more in the way of brains, and money, and technology, inspire even a fraction of such loyalty? _ And yet, here he was as well, willingly bringing his own addition to the memorial. Like the gryphon, that never realized that it was truly in thrall to the lamb, unable to even recognize the choice to harm or abandon it. Or perhaps, like the Doctor, recognizing the choice but unable to make it; Eggman could not have _not_ come, and, now that he was here, he couldn't leave without offering his own tribute. And yet, such was the power of this girl that he didn't really mind. _A pity she died. She might have been an enormous help to me in founding Robotnikland– she always wanted to make people happy, and if I could just take over governing the planet, everyone could __**be**__ happy._

A chao stood beside the bed of blue flowers that framed the statues, watching curiously as the human bent to tuck the blanket around the lamb. The sheltering wing would protect it only slightly from the elements, so he was glad that he had treated it with a new chemical he'd developed. Intended to reduce the friction of air against his robots, to give Metal Sonic and the others even more speed, it had been a failure; but he had found by accident that clothing impregnated with the stuff became well-nigh indestructible, even though it looked and felt like normal cloth. He adjusted the blanket so that the carefully cross-stitched design was visible. _Flowers and a garden of chao. Shadow certainly chose an appropriate place. I suppose I should tell him sometime– when he's not trying to interfere with me. Ah, well._

"I'm going now," he announced to trees around him. He suspected that that spirit echidna was around, although he hadn't seen her. "Tell Knuckles that the machine will run down in a few hours, and won't hurt anyone unless they're stupid enough to step under it; I merely needed a distraction for a while." With that as a 'farewell', he stumped back to his Eggmobile and flew away


End file.
